


No Man Left Behind

by Mel_eficent



Series: Gay Pirate AU [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Kinda, M/M, Pirate AU, Pirates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-06
Updated: 2014-08-06
Packaged: 2018-02-12 01:10:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2090076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mel_eficent/pseuds/Mel_eficent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Many say the Pirate's Code is any man who falls behind is left behind, Armin and the crew of Freedom's Wing disagree.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Man Left Behind

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, I wrote more Pirate Eremin fic.  
> A follow up on my previous Pirate Eremin fic taking an indeterminate amount of time later in the same universe.  
> I was originally going to post this after it was beta'd by arumeme on tumblr (and I still thank her so much for agreeing to do it) but I saw someone else post pirate eremins and I needed to relcaim my title as Eremin Pirate King.  
> There are still other ideas I have for this AU so if you want to see more please let me know.  
> Also please leave a comment at the end if you could, even if all you want to say is 'good thank', it will mean the world to me.

Strangely, the first thing to register in Eren’s brain wasn't the pain from the fist colliding with his face nor from his face colliding with the ground; it was how cold the stone slabs could be despite the searing heat outside.

After that came the pain, and it came hard.

He’d been hung-over before, he’d been tortured before, he’d even been beaten within an inch of his life before; but he’d never been hung-over, tortured, _and_ beaten within an inch of his life before. It wasn’t something he would recommend. His head was spinning; its dull ache was nothing compared the sharp stabs in his cheek and brow, both so swollen and bruised that he must have looked horrific. Through the pain, his murky vision, and whatever was causing that blasted ringing in his ears, he was able to make out a figure before him. It said… something; Eren could only hear so much after having his ears boxed. When he didn’t respond, he was hit again.

“I said ‘Where is the rest of your crew?’, churl! Don’t make me ask again!”

Eren looked up at the man who was speaking to him. When his vision cleared, the first words that came to the boy’s mind were _pompous old fool_. He wasn’t all that tall, sporting an enormous potbelly leaking through his uniform, and a bright red nose to match. His sneering face was marked by liver spots and white powdered curls could be seen under his obnoxiously large hat.

 _Goodness me_ , Eren thought sarcastically, _I’m being interrogated by Father Christmas; I must be the luckiest prisoner in the whole West Indies_. He scowled at the angry Santa Claus defiantly, earning him another hard strike across the mouth. He spat out a wad of gooey red phlegm onto the stone floor, and was that…? Yep, that was a tooth. Ok, Admiral Santa had to die. He was about to express his new found sentiment to his companion when another, kinder voice filled his ears.

“Now now Addison,” it said, much more refined and even toned then the man it was addressing, “How are we going to learn anything if you beat the poor sod to death?”

The old man growled in response; “Apologies sir,” he said, stepping away from the prisoner.

Eren looked as the owner of the new voice approached him. He was much younger than his previous interrogator; but he still wore the same red coat with gold trim that marked him as Eren’s enemy. He was quite tall, and had to bend considerably to be eye level with the kneeling, restrained Pirate. He studied Eren with for a moment with deep, brown eyes, before standing upright once again; reading from a document handed to him by another redcoat in a polished, sophisticated accent.

“Eren Jaeger, Male, age 21,” he moved his eyes from the paper, looking back at Eren and commented “but we both know that’s a lie.” He ran a hand through his neat, sawdust coloured hair and continued reading. “Enlisted in His Majesty’s Royal Navy in 1710 and joined its 104th Training Regiment.” He paused, scanning over the rest of the document, “A rather… impressive list of accomplishments during your years of service, deserted in 1714 at the end of the war along with the rest of his regiment.” He folded the document up again and handed in back. “The punishment for desertion is death you know, ‘all persons found guilty of piracy, or aiding a person convicted of piracy, or associating with a person convicted of piracy, shall be sentenced to hang by the neck until dead’. That is the official decree.”

“Then why am I still here?” Eren replied through broken teeth.

“Because Mr Jaeger,” the officer continued, “This is not London. I am willing to overlook some of the finer points of stature if it means we can both be compensated.”

Eren snarled. It seemed not even His Majesty’s finest were above a little foul play if it meant they could grease their palms, disgusting. “And what makes you think I’d want you to be compensated?” He scoffed.

“Because you value your life, you wouldn’t have deserted if you didn’t.” The officer stopped and kneeled down again, eyes cold and firm, “If you can deliver to me the names and location of the rest of your fellow mutineers, I will grant you a full pardon and safe passage back to England.” He paused to let it sink in, “I’m offering you a chance to see your family again.”

Eren had to stop himself from spitting in his face. _My family’s not in England_ , He thought bitterly. _Dirty two-faced blackmailing redcoat!_ _No way I would sell out my friends, sell out_ Armin _and_ Mikasa, _just to go home!_ Eren was about tell the Englishman where he could go shove his ‘full pardon’ when he spoke again. “I’ll give you some time to decide,” He said walking towards the door of his cell, “Think carefully before you answer.”

***

“They've spotted us!” Marco called down from the Crow’s Nest.

“All hands!” the blond captain shouted from the stern, behind the wheel, “Full sail!”

It felt odd to be steering the ship himself and not giving Eren the order to ‘take them in’. He was by no means an incapable helmsman, he was quite skilled actually, but he was nowhere near as skilled as his best friend. He hoped what little talent he had would be enough.

It was his fault Eren wasn't here, his fault they were doing this in the first place. He should have said something, done something! He could have ordered Eren and the others not to go or take them someplace else or… anything! He knew taking shore leave so close to an English port was a bad idea, _especially_ with the new Governor cracking down, and yet Eren managed to… convince him that he and Jean and a couple of the others would be Ok. Eren had been able to… convince Armin of a lot of things lately, he needed to stop letting him do that.

When they didn't return to the ship the next day he was concerned, when he went into town and couldn’t find them he was worried, when he heard about a bunch of drunks in shabby clothing getting on the wrong side of an Imperial Officer, _then_ he was scared. One interrogation at knife point later, his fears were confirmed. Eren and the others had been taken prisoner.

The fort they’d been taken to wasn't far, nor was it heavily guarded; just a slab of rock garrisoned by green boys on their first tour or old men sent there to keep them out of trouble. There couldn't have been more than fifty men stationed there and they were less than a day away, but that did little to settle the frantic drumming of Armin’s heart. What if they didn't make it in time? What if they were too late? What if they heard he was coming and moved Eren somewhere else? What if Eren had managed to get out, only to be blasted out of the water by one of the cannons? What if he’d already been sentenced? What if he… no, Armin couldn't bear to think of it.

He was fine. Eren was _fine_. He was alright and Jean was alright and the crew was _alright_ , they just needed to rescue them.

And speaking of being blasted out of the water.

“MORTARS!”

Armin was pulled from his thoughts just in time to see the great iron balls barrelling towards them. “HALF SAIL! BRACE YOURSELVES!”

The crew frantically began pulling ropes and scurrying about the deck, the ship’s great white wings furling slightly. The captain spun the wheel to the right and the whole vessel keened, hard to starboard, just in time to see the space the just occupied erupt in a torrent of water. They barely had enough time to recover before the next barrage of cannon fire.

“Full sail again!” Armin ordered, “Come on! We haven’t much time!”

And so they continued on just so; barrelling full sail ahead, cantering port or starboard at half sail, narrowly missing the cannon fire, and turning round at full sail again. They weren’t always near misses however; a few cannon balls landing hits on the port bow and sending a deluge of splinters raining down on _Freedom’s Wing_. One even managed to take out the aft lateen, making manoeuvrability significantly more difficult. Eren could have gotten them their much quicker and with considerably less damage, Armin began to think, but quickly stopped himself. _If I start doubting myself now, we won’t make it in time_. Soon, they were out of range of the heavy cannons and approaching the shore.

“Landing party make ready!” he bellowed, “Everyone, prepare to attack!”

A cry of excitement went up among the crew below as some scrambled for their cutlasses, daggers, and flintlocks, while others began readying the longboats. From across the deck, he locked eyes with Mikasa. Here expression was cold and steely as ever, not a hint of exhilaration or fear flickering across her face. Her eyes lingered on him, stopping what she was doing for a moment just to watch him watching her. Armin couldn’t help but feel that Mikasa blamed him for what happened, and honestly? He agreed with her. He felt horrible for being responsible for putting Eren’s life at risk; yes Armin loved him but Mikasa did too, probably much more. The bond those two shared was unlike anything Armin had ever seen, and he didn’t want to be the one to severe it. A cry came up from the longboat bay. They were ready to make land.

Apart from the few remaining crewmen left behind to prepare for cast off, all the men and women of _Freedom’s Wing_ piled into its five landing boats. The blond captain’s boat lead the advance, with him sitting at the bow with Mikasa, Annie, Bertholdt, Reiner, and Marco behind him. Normally they’d be joined by Jean and Eren, but they were among those they were trying to save. _That is_ , Armin thought, _if we’ve made it in time_. He’d tried to keep a level head for the trip, for his, Eren’s, and the crew’s sake, but that all came crumbling down now. He sat there, quivering like a leaf in the autumn wind, one sharp gust away from snapping off and billowing through the air. It was then he felt a firm, cool hand on his shoulder, and heard the firm, cool voice it belonged to.

“Armin.” Mikasa said. Armin turned to look her in her calm face, “It’s not your fault. We can still save him.”

If a wave rose from the ocean and washed over them now, knocking them off their feet and possibly out of the longboat, he wouldn’t have noticed. Mikasa… didn’t blame him? She didn’t think he was responsible, she didn’t think he was horrible captain or friend? _All this time_ , he thought, _it’s all been in my head_. Mikasa had a way of influencing him like that. True, they may have never become friends or even met if it weren’t for Eren, but the bond they had forged through him was still a strong one, regardless of her brother’s role in it. With a new found resolve, Armin stood up and turned to address the other longboats.

“Behind those walls,” he yelled above the roar of the waves, gesturing to the fort behind him, “are lines of cannon, musket, and powder; enough to blast us all to kingdom come! Behind those walls are battalions of armed, trained men, who would want nothing more than to see us all hung, drawn, and quartered!”

He gazed upon their faces, some confused as to the point of his speech, others scared by the truth of his words. His eyes steeled, and he puffed out his chest triumphantly. “But also behind those walls are our friends! Men and women who have fought with us, who have eaten and drank with us, who have stood for freedom with us! They are our brothers and sisters! Our _family_! Will we abandon them to their fate?”

“NO!” came the crew’s reply.

“Will we leave them here to starve and rot?”

“NO!”

“Will we let them die?”

“ **NO!** ”

“THEN LET’S GET THEM BACK!”

A rallying, deafening cry went up among the pirates as the first longboat made contact with the shore. They all leapt out, Mikasa flying up the beach and virtually over the wall, almost as if she had wings. Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt weren’t far behind, and soon the second and third longboats came to ground and they all stormed through the wooden gates. _Eren_ , Armin thought as the great oaken doors came splintering open, _I’m coming_.

***

Between the hangover, the beatings, and the blood loss, Eren found it hard to remain awake. He passed out almost as soon as the redcoat officer left, and had been drifting in and out of consciousness ever since. He didn’t know how long it was between his lucid moments; hours, seconds, weeks, only that time was had passed since he last opened his eyes. At one point he awoke to shouts from down the hall, ones he assumed belonged to Kirschtein or Wagner. Another time his guards woke him up for the sole purpose of hitting him a few more times, just because they thought it might be fun. This time he was shaken awake, coming face to face with the disgruntled face of the white haired red suited man who would have brought joy to children everywhere… had he not been wearing an expression sour enough to curdle milk.

“Is this _your_ doing scum?” He snarled. Eren had no idea what he was talking about; he was just about to say as much when a fist slammed into his stomach. “Did you… friends…?  …Spying on us?”

“N-” Eren began before delving into a coughing fit, “N-no, I don’t… don’t know anything…”

“Impudent Worm!” Addison yelled striking the young man with the back of his hand, “...Pirate bastards right to us... All hang!”

Eren was no longer conscious enough to fully understand what was going on, something about hanging and other pirates? No… they hadn’t hanged Jean and the others yet had they? His head was reeling and his eyes spun around in their sockets at the slightest movement. He lost almost all concept of what was happening around him. He could see… a figure, one he presumed was Admiral Santa, and soon more came to join him. More soldiers? Eren thought he could make out red so that made sense, or maybe that was the blood dripping down into his eyes from the knocks to his head. Two of them seemed to be arguing about… something, pointing at Eren and screaming. Finally, one pulled something out of its pocket, pointing it at Eren. He only had just enough perception left to figure out what it was before his ears were ringing a loud _BANG!_

He’d… he’d been shot. Everything around him seemed to slow down, and all colour began washing away. It was the sole thought running through his head. He’d been shot. His eyes feel to his chest, expecting to see a slowly forming red stain, spreading out over his white shirt, but he found nothing. With slow, hesitant fingers he reached up to touch his chest and… nothing. No blood, no wound, no pain. No Gunshot. He looked up just in time to see one of the figures, the one who seemed to be Addison, clutch his chest as he fell to the ground, a trail of blood leaking out from between his fingers. Eren watched confused as strange shapes danced between the other figures, flinging their arms back and forth as if holding a burning stick or brandishing a sword. One by one, all the other figures in the room slumped to floor, red coats stained with further red. His brain was not being very cooperative at this moment, struggling to process what was going on. He was still trying figure out how he wasn’t shot. He was finally starting to take in what he was seeing before him when a figure clad in blue and shining like gold stepped into his vision. He’d know that figure anywhere.

“Eren!” Armin yelled, taking him in his arms, “Eren, I thought I’d lost you!”

Eren could feel the faint, warm trickle of tears running off his lover’s cheeks and onto the back of his neck. He didn’t know what was happening but he didn’t need to anymore.

Armin was here, that was all that mattered.

He reached up and put and arm around his crying captain’s heaving shoulders and rubbed circles into his back. With his other hand, he began to thread his fingers through his corn silk hair. It was something they’d always done whenever Armin needed comfort, needed calming, or even just when he needed to know Eren was there. Soon his breathing began to steady.

“You…” Eren struggled, voice hoarse and mouth throbbing, “You came back for me.”

Armin let out the smallest of gasps, before leaning down and kissing him full on the lips. He held Eren’s face in his hands as if he feared he would slip away at any moment, and he never wanted to let go.

“I’ll always come back for you Eren,” He whispered, breaking the kiss, “Always. I’d follow you to the end of the earth and through hell itself just to bring you back to me. I will _never_ leave you behind.”


End file.
